The American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery has been approved for the 2014 PQRS MOC Incentive. This is the last year the incentive will be available.

About the PQRS MOC Incentive

The PQRS MOC Incentive allows surgeons participating in PQRS to earn an additional 0.5% on their Medicare Part B allowed charges by also participating in the ABCRS MOC program “more frequently” than what is required by ABCRS. You must also be participating in a patient experience of care survey program. You can only receive one MOC incentive payment, even if you are certified by more than one ABMS board.

HOW DO I APPLY? – If you are interested in participating in the PQRS MOC Incentive program, read the below instructions and call the ABCRS office. Upon receipt of your notification of intent to participate, we will activate your PQRS attestation in our database inside your personal profile. You will then need to submit your information to CMS. Contact the ABCRS office at 734-282-9400 or email to lhaag@abcrs.org. Below are the requirements and instructions.

The ABCRS is not currently involved with PQRS reporting. For help, please see the CMS PQRS websiteor contact CMS at 1-866-288-8912 or via e-mail.Requirements

CMS has defined the following requirements for the 2014 PQRS MOC Incentive.

Approved Registries: The ACS Surgeon Specific RegistryCase Log System has been approved for PQRS reporting.

2.) Be enrolled and in compliance with the ABCRS MOC Program during the 2014 calendar year (check your ABCRS MOC Profile) to see if you are “Meeting MOC Requirements”.

3,) Participate in MOC “more frequently” in 2014 than is required to maintain certification. For ABCRS diplomates, you must fulfill ONE of the options below:

MOC Part 2 Option (CME): Complete 30 Category I CME credits relevant to your practice in the 2014 calendar year, with at least 20 credits including self-assessment (a written or electronic question-and-answer exercise that assesses your understanding of the material in the CME program). A score of 75% or higher must be achieved on the self-assessment activity.

OR

MOC Part 3 Option (Exam): Pass an ABCRS recertification examination earlier than needed, i.e., prior to the final opportunity to take the exam before your certificate expires. Diplomates may first take a recertification exam three years before their certificate’s expiration.

OR

MOC Part 4 Option (Practice Assessment): Participate in more than one local, regional or national outcomes registry or quality improvement program (either individually or through your institution) during the 2014 calendar year. This includes programs like SCIP, the ACS Surgeon Specific Registry (Case Log), ACS NSQIP®.

4) In addition, CMS requires all participants to complete the following:

MOC Part 4 (Practice Assessment): Participate in at least one local, regional or national outcomes registry or quality improvement program in the 2014 calendar year.

Patient Survey: Participate in a patient experience of care survey. This may be fulfilled by participating in patient surveys administered by your institution, department or other groups. There is no minimum number of surveys required. If you do not have access to a survey, the CAHPS® Surgical Care Survey is available for free from the ACS.

The Submission Process
The submission process is done entirely online—no paper documentation is needed. You will complete an online form attesting that you have met or will meet the requirements above. You do not need to wait until you have completed your PQRS reporting to apply for the incentive. The deadline to submit your PQRS reporting is December 31, 2014.

1.) On the MOC Matters website, click on “American Board of Colon and Rectal Surgery” (top right). Review the next page then click “Continue”. First time users will need to a Username and Password by clicking on “Account” at the top of the MOC Matters Home Page.

2.) On the following screens, you will be offered three services:

– The MOC:PQRS Attestation (for submission of your MOC information to CMS)
– Registry for PQRS reporting (if you do not have a way to report otherwise)
– Patient survey function (if you do not have access to one otherwise)

You can purchase these services as a group or individually. If you are already participating in PQRS and in a patient survey program, you will only need the MOC:PQRS Attestation ($30 fee). The fees charged go to the website provider, not ABCRS or ABMS.

NOTE:If you plan to use more than just the attestation, the attestation form is the LAST STEP in this process.

3.) If you are new to this website, you will be prompted to register to complete the process.

4.) To complete the MOC:PQRS Attestation form, you will attest to:

– participating in PQRS reporting
– participating in the ABCRS MOC Program
– participating in ABCRS MOC “more frequently” (as described above)
– completing (i.e., participating in) a Part 4 – practice assessment program
– participating in a patient experience of care survey program all within the 2014 calendar year

NOTE: The attestation form will ask which year you are in your “MOC Cycle” – for purposes of this form, this means which year in the 10-year certification cycle. Check your ABCRS MOC Profile if you are unsure.

5.) Once the attestation form is submitted, you have completed the submisson process for the 2014 PQRS MOC Incentive.

After Your Information is Submitted (Deadline for Submission is December 31, 2014)
The vendor will verify with ABCRS that you are currently certified and in compliance with the ABCRS MOC Program. Your data will then be sent to CMS. If your PQRS reporting and MOC incentive information are approved by CMS, the MOC incentive payment will be included with your 2014 PQRS reporting payment. Historically CMS has sent these payments in the third quarter of the following year.

ATTENTION: If you utilize the American College of Surgeons (ACS) Surgeon Specific Registry (SSR) the below information may be useful.

The College is continually improving the SSR to meet the growing needs of collecting, measuring, and submitting individual surgeon data.

·Provide your Taxpayer ID Number (TIN) – provide the TIN that is used to bill your Medicare Part B beneficiaries

·Access any important PQRS information

·View and complete any eligible cases

·Approve PQRS submission to CMS once all measures data have been completed – required by January 31, 2015

*For PQRS 2014 Perioperative Care Measures Group *participants, you may create a new case and complete the required measures data within the case form. The measures data will appear when you enter an eligible CPT code. For existing cases, you may view the eligible cases that have already been entered and submit the required measures fields to complete the case.

*For PQRS 2014 General Surgery Measures Group *participants, hover your mouse over the “PQRS” tab and select “PQRS Case Speedform” and complete this case form in its entirety. For existing cases, you may view the eligible cases that have already been entered and access the speedform to complete any remaining fields to complete the case.

If you are attending Clinical Congress, stop by the SSR booth at the ACS Resource Center to see a demonstration of the SSR, the newly incorporated measures, and to complete a survey to be eligible for a raffle drawing. ACS staff would like to hear your thoughts and suggestions as the College continues to add other valuable items in this registry.